TUESDAY, Sept. 10, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- The prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, already the standard for determining whether a man is predisposed toward contracting prostate cancer, has a new, improved version.
It's the complexed PSA test (cPSA), and it's going to be used on thousands of U.S. men during the week of Sep. 15-22, National Prostate Cancer Awareness Week.
Prostate cancer is the most prevalent cancer among adult males in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that almost 200,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in the next 12 months, and more than 30,000 of them will die.
This is the 14th annual Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, an event in which more than 100,000 men will be given the cPSA test at 500 hospitals free or at a nominal charge.
The event is organized by the the Prostate Cancer Education Council, a non-profit umbrella organization whose goal is providing information about the dangers of prostate cancer.
The cPSA test was developed in clinical trials during the past two years and is about 4 percent to 5 percent more accurate, the results show.
According to an article in the Urology Times, the researchers believe the cPSA test can replace the PSA test at all levels. "cPSA outperforms tPSA over all PSA ranges and can be used as a first-line test for prostate cancer detection," say study co-author Dr. Herbert Lepor, Spatz chairman of urology at New York University School of Medicine.
More information
It's recommended that men over the age of 45 get screened for prostate cancer. And while the cPSA is not a guarantee one way or the other, it gives a good indication as to whether you're at risk.
If you'd like to take a cPSA test, you can call 1-866-4Prost8. The Prostate Cancer Education Council also has this Website to find a screening location in your area.
